Pray for the 12%

When I first started this I thought it would be easy to post something every week, then I switched to every other...and so on.  Soon it became something I did every so often, an afterthought.  Time really does get away from you, my last post was early in January.  So does this mean God hasn't been revealing or speaking to me like he used to?  No, I think reality has set in.  God has a better sense of time than I do.  He also is a much better manager of time than I will ever be. 

Well, I've been doing some reading.  I'm finding out I enjoy Mark Driscoll books, specifically "Vintage Jesus".  I also read "Confessions of a Reformation Rev", good too but mainly a fun read.  In the book Vintage Jesus, chapter 7, titled "Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?" I'm stuck on something.  He waits till the final page of the chapter to drop a bomb on you.  I need to quote it for you, hopefully I won't get in trouble.  It says this...

"Sadly, there is apparently a great deal of confusion on this matter.  Every year people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus at Easter.  Nonetheless, many people believe in the historical fact of Jesus' resurrection but have not become Christians by placing their personal faith in him.  Even some who claim to be Christians oddly deny the historical fact of Jesus' resurrection.  For example, a poll conducted by Newsweek magazine asked the question, 'Do you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead after dying on the cross?'  Of those who answered, only 88 percent of people who claimed to be Christians answered yes.  But, fully 32 percent of people who claimed to be non-Christian answered yes."  Taken from Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears book "Vintage Jesus".

Are you kidding me?

In an election 88 percent would be considered a landslide.  When the difference is more than 8% they call that a skunk.  But this isn't an election.  This for lack of better terms is an abomination.  I do understand it's hard to know everything about a topic.  For instance, I'm a Braves fan.  Right now I'm doing the tomahawk chop while typing with one hand...it's a special talent I have.  I can't tell you their batting lineup or even remember the name of the coach that replaced Bobby Cox but I consider myself a fan.  It's like denying they won the World Series in '93.  Even though I watched till the final out and bought a silly hat.  Even though you can go to Atlanta and see the trophy in a case and talk to players on the team you still deny it ever happened.  I guess after a while people forget it ever happened then before you know it a generation comes along that didn't experience it and...it never happened.  Sounds pretty silly.  Here's the sad part, people know more about the game of baseball than they do about Jesus Christ but we're not talking about baseball.  Baseball didn't pay for your sin.  Baseball didn't die on a cross and rise three days later to prove its power over death.  The resurrection of Christ is the reason we can call ourselves Christians; it's a staple of Christianity.  The cross by no means was the end, it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

 The second number mentioned, 32% non-Christians, to me is a positive.  These people may be closer to understanding God than the 12% who claim to.  My biggest problem with all this is the fact we have people claiming to be Christ followers (Christians) but don't acknowledge or believe in the resurrection.  I have to assume they are immersed believers or they would claim to be attenders.  Shallow Christianity or ignorance is no excuse.  It shouldn't surprise me when the world has doubts when the members doubt our own core beliefs.  I don't have an answer for this, thankfully God does.  When all else fails, pray.  For starters, pray for our churches.  Pray they may help their members fully understand God's power.  Pray that our churches are being led by men called by God to be leaders and teachers.  Pray that our leaders will be given understanding to help our members to know the importance of the resurrection.  Pray that Satan will not get a foothold in churches around the world. 

1 Corinthians 15:12-19  "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.  We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied."

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2015&version=ESV

Till next time...

peace,
totalheel

A letter to Abe

This past week I received an email from a middle school boy.  In his email he asked me to answer 5 questions for a paper he was writing for school.  I love it when I'm forced to dive into my shallow mind and dig deep.  Below are the questions and the answers I gave.  Please feel free to expand or correct me, I'm only human after all. 

Does God exist? If so, what is he like, and how do you know?


I believe it's harder to NOT believe in God than it is to believe He does exist. Let's look at the Earth. If we were any closer to the sun we would burn up. If we were any further away we would freeze. The earth has not slowed down at all for however long it's been rotating the sun. We have an unexplainable atmosphere that protects us from the deadly radiation of space. These four things alone have baffled scientists for centuries because they can't explain them. God is the explanation. You can go on and on simply on the creation that surrounds us. Look in a mirror and explain how an eye works or how it came to be. Scientists want you to believe we came from some oozy slime that one day decided to divide and form things. If this is how it happened then I believe Genesis would've started more like this. In the beginning God created the heavens and the slime of the earth...and later on it would mention how this slime got up and walked over and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Pretty silly huh?

I gather all the attributes of God from His word. In Colossians it tells us that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. So God is invisible, kind of like a vapor. In Exodus we read that when people looked at Him they died. This wasn't because he had a face only a mother could love. His presence is so magnificent, His glory so mighty that our earthly bodies cannot handle it. We drop like dead men in his presence. Some things about God we may never understand till we meet him. For instance, He is omnipotent (all powerful). One of my youth leaders put it this way. Could God create a mountain so big he couldn't move it? Of course he could, then he'd move. But why? Because this is an earthly way we can understand his power. He is omnipresent (can be everywhere at once). The Holy Spirit allows this to happen. He isn't limited to time either, I believe if God wanted to "travel back in time" he could. Our life is like a cd and God can play any part of it whenever he wants. He is omniscient (all knowing). He is the beginning and the end of all these to be known. I'll put it plainly, He knows everything. God is more than love. He is unchanging. God hasn't budged from his stance ever. The world became like it is because we changed. For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6) This question has so many different avenues you could go down. I believe David best describes God in the Psalms. Psalm 139 He can search us and know our heart. Psalm 140 He delivers us from evil, 142 He is our refuge, 147 He heals the broken hearted. There's so much more I could say about God and what he's like and how I know.



What is real? Is reality merely matter, an illusion, some combination, or something else?

Awesome question. It's nice that you ask this too. The blog I write is titled "Making God Real". If I don't fully understand the meaning of "real" then nothing in it will make sense. Real is one of those crazy words that can be an adjective, noun or an adverb. As an adjective real is actual (ie.: the real reason) . As a noun real exists (ie.: real number). As an adverb real is informal (ie.: real nice job). The "real" I aim for is the noun one. This is probably the toughest one but to me it's the most obvious. I believe God can be seen and heard in everyday things. The laugh of a baby, the wind in a field, the love of my children. I don't think these things are God but merely the essence of an ever present caring God. I guess the "real" real we as Christians are looking for is real faith and in this it matters immensely.



What is the origin of life and the universe?

Life began with Adam...period. After a while God noticed Adam needed a companion so he gave him Eve...period. There is no missing link. We did not evolve from apes. I make this statement solely on the faith that God's word is true and I believe it to be true. Genesis spells out our origins. The universe? Tina used to have a shirt that said "I believe in the Big Bang Theory. God spoke it and BANG! It happened." I think the thing that confuses or throws us off the most is the mention of days in Genesis. God isn't tied down with time. 2 Peter 3:8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Does this mean God created the world in 7, 24 hour days or 7 thousand years? I do know that scientists who believe in the Big Bang Theory don't have an explanation on where the explosive matter came from. Uh, God made it.



Are human beings special? Are we just animals, do we have souls? Are we basically good, bad, or something else?

Oh boy, I could really get in trouble with this one. Humans are very special, so special that God used to physically walk around and talk with them. I believe this was in the form of a Glorified Jesus. Up until God created man and women he said things were "good". After man and women it was "very good". Genesis 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. There are several things that make us different from animals. Hands, voice box, walk upright, logical thinking brains...etc. The biggest thing that separates us is our soul. Sorry but all dogs don't go to heaven. The soul is the spiritual principle embodied in human beings. I grabbed that from a dictionary. I don't know if there's a good answer to if we are good or bad. I do know that because of Adam we are all born into original sin. This doesn't however make us bad people or encourage us to make bad decisions. We, being all humans, need rules. Without rules there is chaos. People like to push the apron and see how far they can go before consequences arise. This is the reason God gave us Jesus...our Savoir. Because of our bad decision making and inability to do it on our own he sent his son to die on the cross. This is basically the plan of salvation. I don't want to get too technical but in the eyes of God 'good' is pretty stinking good; actually it's a good that we could never achieve on our own. So to answer your question, we are sinners in need of a Savoir and through Him (Jesus) we can be made righteous or right (or good) in the eyes of God.

What is right and wrong? How do you know?

One of the dumbest sayings I've heard in the past is this, "if it feels right then how can it be wrong?". A big alarm should be going off in your head after hearing that one. What people today try to do is live with what we call "relative morals". These are morals based on doing whatever feels good or relative to the situation. People who live this way tend to change their moral beliefs daily. Can you understand now why their is so much chaos and disorder in the world today? Another thing we will do is base our rights and wrongs on what celebrities are doing. Christians believe that if objective principles of right and wrong exist, there must be a foundation for them. And the foundation that makes the most sense is the character of a perfect and holy God. God's word is truth, it will never fail you. That's how I know.


Thanks for reading...

peace,

totalheel